Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Harry Potter books causing fights?Well apparently children aren't the only ones who can fight over a book nowadays. It seems that the Harry Potter novels are quite the big thing in prisons as well, and tend to cause quite a few disturbances and arguements.
This was written in The Advertiser:
The J K Rowling bestsellers have been in hot demand among Western inmates with arguments erupting between Hicks and other prisoners over who gets the next Harry Potter book.SUSPECTED South Australian terrorist David Hicks has been whiling away time in Guantanamo Bay reading about flying on broomsticks, casting spells and wizards.Ex-US Air Force translator Ahmad Al Halabi, who also was a librarian at Guantanamo Bay prison, said several inmates were "always arguing about which volume of Harry Potter they could have".Mr Al Halabi, who was investigated over spying at the US base, also told a US newspaper records about Hicks' Harry Potter reading preference were seized as part of the spying probe.
Investigators thought a series of numbers next to Hicks' name on a cellblock roster were part of a secret coded message between Mr Al Halabi and Hicks.
The "code", however, was the reference numbers for Harry Potter books in the library.
Mr Al Halabi had been accused of passing secrets to Syria but the spying charges were dropped last month and he was discharged.Who knew reading Harry Potter could cause you to be charged of espionage??
This from the funny world news today! :D